Symposium
on
Mechanics of Natural Solids
HORTO/Greece
7th - 9th September 2009

organised by D. Kolymbas (Innsbruck) and C. Viggiani (Grenoble)

Aims

The symposium aims to deliver a paradigm for the interconnection of the mechanics of soil, rock, ice and snow and also for the interdisciplinary character of the related research. Therefore, the lectures will be of fundamental character and address the possible interfaces and the fascinating contents of the several subjects.

Scope

Natural solids (soil, rock, ice, snow) are characterised by inhomogenety and by properties that vary in a very large range. For example, granite is usually very hard, but weathered granite can be kneaded by hand. Rock can be continuous or jointed, large rock strata undergo in the course of millions of years enormous deformations, they can be folded and/or upheaved by several kilometers. Continuous disintegration transforms rock to soil, a granular material that exhibits peculiar properties the most striking of which is that it can undergo extremely large deformations and then resume solidity, when the individual grains are pressed against each other. Sand shares with rock the ability to undergo large deformation, provided that rock is deformed in completely different time scales from sand. Thus, strength and rigidity (stiffness) of rock are a matter of deformation rate, and sand can be considered as an archetype of all natural solids. The inherent similarity that connects rock and soil holds also for ice and snow. Snow is a sintered material but shares some properties with soil, whereas glacier ice behaves like a low-viscosity rock.

Speakers & Presentations

• Eduardo Alonso, Barcelona: Size effects and long term behaviour of coarse granular media
• Gary Couples, Edinburgh: Nature: A very sophisticated experimentalist
• Itai Einav, Sydney: Confined comminution in granular materials: from discrete to continuum
• Steve Hall, Grenoble: When geophysics meet geomechanics: elastic-wave imaging of geomechanical properties and processes
• Dimitrios Kolymbas, Innsbruck: Sand as an archetypical natural solid
• Mario Liu, Tübingen: Physical foundations of sand mechanics
• Jacques Meyssonnier, Grenoble: Experimental studies of the viscoplasticty of ice and snow
• Carlos Santamarina, Georgia: Particle-level processes in the development of discontinuities in granular materials
• Martin Schneebeli, Davos: Snow mechanics in view of the transition between a sintered and granular material
• Martin Schöpfer, Dublin: Distinct Element Method (DEM) modelling of laboratory to outcrop-scale fracturing of natural rocks
• Erland Schulson, Dartmouth, New Hampshire: Fracture of Ice
• Antoinette Tordesillas, Melbourne: Are we there yet?: Following the energy trail in cohesionless granular solids
• Cino Viggiani, Grenoble: Mechanisms of localized deformation/damage in geomaterials: an experimental insight
• Teng Fong Wong, New York: Grain crushing, pore collapse and strain localization in porous rock

Programme

Monday, 7^th September 2009

08:30 Opening address C.Viggiani – D. Kolymbas

09:00 -- 10:00 Sand as an archetypical natural solid (Kolymbas)

10:00 -- 11:00 The physics of granular mechanics (Liu)

11:00 -- 11:30 Break

11:30 -- 12:30 Are we there yet?: Following the energy trail in cohesionless granular solids (Tordesillas)

18:00 -- 19:00 Micromechanical alternatives to phenomenological hardening plasticity (Einav)

19:00 -- 20:00 Mechanisms of localized deformation in geomaterials: an experimental insight using full-field

measurement techniques (Viggiani)

Tuesday, 8^th September 2009

09:00 -- 10:00 2D DEM-modeling of tectonic fault growth in mechanicaly layered sequences (Schöpfer)

10:00 -- 11:00 When geophysics met geomechanics: Imaging of geomechanical properties and processes using

elastic waves (Hall)

11:00 -- 11:30 Break

11:30 -- 12:30 Fracture of Ice and other Coulombic Materials (Schulson)

18:00 -- 19:00 Experimental studies of the viscoplasticty of ice and snow (Meyssonnier)

19:00 -- 20:00 Discontinuities in granular materials: Particle-level mechanisms (Santamarina)

Wednesday, 9^th September 2009

09:00 -- 10:00 Grain crushing, pore collapse and strain localization in porous sandstone (Wong)

10:00 -- 11:00 Long term behaviour and size effects of coarse granular media (Alonso)

11:00 -- 11:30 Break

11:30 -- 12:30 Nature: A very clever experimentalist (Couples)

18:00 -- 19:00 Snow mechanics in view of the transition between a sintered and granular material (Schneebeli)

Tourist Information and Accommodation

Information on Accommodation in Horto and Horto itself is available on the internet:

http://www.aroundpelion.com/pelion/horto
http://www.pelion-hotels.peliongreece.com
http://www.ledapelion.com
http://www.hortoapartments.com
http://www.irenevilla.com
http://www.diplomatsholidays.com
http://www.holidays-in-pelion.com.gr

Accommodation can be directly booked under the indicated www addresses. Upon request, we can book for you.

Guesthouse KARYDIES, G. Zirganos, Tel. +3024230/54364

Registration and Fees

To subscribe, please send an e-mail with the required information (name, address, affiliation, etc.) to daniel.renk@uibk.ac.at.

Deadline for registration: 31st March 2009
Please notice: the number of participants is limited to 50.
Participation fees: 350 Euro.
(To be paid after notification of acceptance. The amount includes participation, coffee breaks and lecture notes.)

Important Dates

DEADLINE for registration: 31st March 2009
Notification of acceptance: 30th April 2009
Transfer of the fees - DEADLINE: 31st May 2009
Notification of final registration: 30th June 2009

Transfer Connections

Thessaloniki airport – Intercity bus station: Taxi (45 minutes, ca 23,00 €)

Intercity bus station Thessaloniki -- Volos: 2.5 hours drive, 16,60 €,
Departures: 07:00, 09:00, 11:00, 13:00, 15:15, 17:00, 19:15, 21:15, 23:00 (www.ktel-thes.gr)

Volos -- Horto: 1 hour, 45 km

Ø Taxi ca 50,00 €,

Ø bus, Departures (Monday – Friday): 04:30, 04:45, 09:45, 12:15, 14:30, 16:30,
Saturday: 04:30, 05:30, 09:45, 12:15, 14:30, 16:30,
Sunday: 04:30, 05:30, 09:45, 14:30, 16:30 (www.ktelvolou.gr)

Horto -- Volos: Bus departures (Monday – Friday): 08:00, 09.30, 13:45, 16:15, 18:15, 19:30,
Saturday: 08:00, 13:45, 16:15, 18:15, 19:30,
Sunday: 08:00, 09:30, 16:15, 18:15, 19:30

Volos -- Thessaloniki: Bus departures (Monday – Saturday): 04:30, 06:00, 08:00, 10:00, 12:15, 14:00, 16:15, 18:15, 20:30,
Sunday: 06:00, 08:00, 10:00, 12:15, 14:00, 16:15, 18:15, 20:30

Athens airport – Intercity Bus station: 65 minutes, 3.20 €, Bus No. ‘X93’ Departures: from 06:05 to 24:50: ca every 30 minutes

Intercity bus Athens -- Volos: 4 hours, Departures (Monday – Saturday): 06:30, 08.00, 09:30, 11:00, 12:00, 13:00, 15:00, 16:00, 17:00, 18:30, 20:00, 22:00,
Sunday: 08.00, 09:30, 11:00, 12:00, 13:30, 15:00, 16:00, 17:00, 18:30, 20:00, 22:00 (www.ktelvolou.gr)

Bus Volos -- Athens: Departures (Monday – Saturday): 05.00, 07:00, 09:00, 10:30, 12:00, 13:30, 15:00, 16:00, 17:00, 18:30, 21:00, 01:00,
Sunday: 07:00, 09:00, 10:30, 12:00, 13:30, 15:00, 16:00, 17:00, 18:30, 21:00, 01:00

CAR DRIVE from Thessaloniki to HORTO

279 km, 3 hours 54 minutes, Road toll: 8,00 €, Thessaloniki – Katerini – Larissa - Volos – Agria – Argalasti – Horto

TAXI Milina: 0030 24230-65219, TAXI Argalasti: 0030 24230 54245

Hospital in Argalasti: 0030 24230 54611-2, pharmacy : in Milina (3 km), in Argalasti (7 km)

Car rental: www.mietwagengriechenland.com, www.billiger-mietwagen.de, www.autoeurope.eu,

www.chalkidiki-cars.com, www.economycarrentals.com

Arriving to HORTO

Horto is a very small village. Upon arrival proceed to the workshop venue, which is situated next to the church.
Alternatively call Sarah-Jane (+43 650 5303881) or Daniel (+43 650 4731512) or Ansgar (+43 650 5318482),
and you will be advised how to get to your guesthouse. The positions of the several guesthouses are indicated in the map shown below.

Note that there is no cash dispenser in Horto, The nearest is in Argalisti (ca 1 hour by foot or 10' by car).

Interesting places to visit are: Milina, Lafkos, Milies, Vizitsa, Tsangarada, the beaches of Potistika and Milopotamos,
the Saturday morning market in Argalasti

Note that there are several spellings of Horto (Greek: XOPTO): Hortos, Horto, Horton, Chorto.

Participants

• Prof. Christoph Adam, Universität Innsbruck, christoph.adam@uibk.ac.at
• Prof. Eduardo Alonso, Universidad Politecnica de Catalunya, eduardo.alonso@upc.edu
• Yannis Bakoyannis, Ministry of Public Works, GR-Itea, bakojon@otenet.gr
• Dipl.-lng. Anastasia Blioumi, Universität Innsbruck, anastasia.blioumi@uibk.ac.at
• Prof. Robert Charlier, Universite de Liege (ULg), Robert.Charlier@ULg.ac.be
• Prof. Gary D. Couples, Heriot-Watt University, gary.couples@pet.hw.ac.uk
• Dr. Itai Einav, University of Sydney, i.einav@usyd.edu.au
• Prof.Volker Feeser, Universität Kiel, vf@gpi.uni-kiel.de
• Prof. Jürgen Grabe, Hamburg University of Technology, grabe@tuhh.de
• Prof. em. Dr. h.c. Gerd Gudehus, Universität Karlsruhe (TH), Gerd.Gudehus@ibf.uni-karlsruhe.de
• Dr. Stephen Hall, Projet Geomateriaux, Deformation et Rupture, hall@geo-hmg.inpg.fr
• Dr. Shahram Hashemi, Amatis Rabin, Engineering, Technology and Management Company, marghzar@amara.ir
• Prof. Stephan Herminghaus, MPI Göttingen für Dynamik und Selbstorganisation, Stephan.Herminghaus@ds.mpg.de
• Dr. Ansgar Kirsch, Universität Innsbruck, ansgar.kirsch@uibk.ac.at
• Dipl.-Geol. Matthias Klinkmüller, Universität Bern, matthias@geo.unibe.ch
• Prof. Dimitrios Kolymbas, Universität Innsbruck, dimitrios.kolymbas@uibk.ac.at
• Prof. Christof Lempp, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, christof.lempp@geo.uni-halle.de
• Prof. Mario Liu, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, mliu@uni-Tuebingen.de
• Dr. George Marketos, University of Southampton, g.marketos@noc.soton.ac.uk
• Dr. David Masin, Charles University Prague, masin@natur.cuni.cz
• Dr. John McDougall, Edinburgh Napier University, j.mcdougall@napier.ac.uk
• Dipl.-lng. Gertraud Medicus, Universität Innsbruck, gertraud.medicus@uibk.ac.at
• Dr. Jacques Meyssonnier, Laboratoire de Glaciologie et Geophysique de I'Environnement, meyssonnier@lgge.obs.ujf-grenoble.fr
• Prof. Luigi Mongiovi, Universita di Trento, luigi.mongiovi@ing.unitn.it
• Prof. David Muir-Wood, University of Bristol, D.Muir-Wood@bristol.ac.uk
• Dipl.-Ing. Aris Gazetas, OTM Consulting Engineering Company S.A., otmate@otenet.gr
• Dipl.-Ing. Emilia Balassi, OTM Consulting Engineering Company S.A., otmate@otenet.gr
• Prof. Konstantin Papantonopoulos, University of Patras, cip@upatras.gr
• M.Sc. Mohsin Usman Qureshi, The University of Tokyo, qureshi@geot.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp
• Dipl.-lng. Daniel Renk, Universität Innsbruck Arbeitsbereich, daniel.renk@uibk.ac.at
• Prof. Carlos Santamarina, Georgia Tech, carlos.santamarina@ce.gatech.edu
• Dr. Martin Schneebeli, ETH Zürich, schneebeli@slf.ch
• Dr. Martin Schöpfer, University College Dublin, martin@fag.ucd.ie
• Prof. Erland M. Schulson, Dartmouth College Thayer School of Engineering, Erland.M.Schulson@Dartmouth.edu.
• Dr. Alessandro Tarantino, Università degli Studi di Trento, tarantin@ing.unitn.it
• Prof. Antoinette Tordesillas, University of Melbourne, atordesi@ms.unimelb.edu.au
• Prof. Andre Vervoort, K.U. Leuven, Andre.Vervoort@bwk.kuleuven.be
• Prof. Gioacchino Viggiani, Universite Grenoble, cino.viggiani@hmg.inpg.fr
• Prof. Christos Vrettos, Technische Universität Kaiserslautern, vrettos@rhrk.uni-kl.de
• Prof. Teng-Fong Wong, Stony Brook University New York, Teng-fong.Wong@stonybrook.edu
• Dr. Suguru Yamada, The University of Tokyo, suguru@geot.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp
• Dipl.-lng. Ahmad Zebhi, Copains Bau Frankfurt, zebhi@les-copains.de

Correspondence

Dipl.-Ing. Daniel Renk Division of Geotechnical and Tunnel Engineering Institute of Infrastructure University of Innsbruck Technikerstr. 13 A-6020 Innsbruck Austria

Tel.: +43/512/507-6683 Fax: +43/512/507-2996 e-mail: daniel.renk@uibk.ac.at